POLL: If Given The Power, Would You Vote To Or Not To Retain Nick Sakiewicz?

It's not a perfect comparison, but given that coaches can hire their own sporting directors, international scouts and other front office staff that handle transfers, Nick Sakiewicz could be considered the Philadelphia Union's version of Adrian Hanauer.

Sakiewicz is a part owner of the Union and has played a pivotal part in the organization's development over since joining Major League Soccer in 2010. His role as CEO and operating partner has never been truly defined, but Sakiewicz is the public face of the team and has some sort of hiring and firing powers, as seen in the dismissal of Peter Nowak and the double promotion of assistant-then-interim-then-permanent head coach John Hackworth.

Due to his status as a part owner of the team, Sakiewicz's role with the team seems safe. It's hard to see a future in which he loses standing in the team's front office unless he chooses to walk away from the position (under pressure from the outside or otherwise).

Unlike Sakiewicz, Hanauer doesn't have the luxury of relying upon his ownership stake to keep his job. The Seattle ownership group purposely put into place a democratic voting process to give the fans a chance to decide if the main person impacting the makeup of the team should return to his job.

Sounder at Heart has a summary of why the Seattle owners chose to set up the system with a poignant quotefrom Drew Carey, who is one of those owners:

Drew Carey mentions that at this time the ownership is good and the vote was likely not difficult, but in 20-25 years "when we're [Ownership] all dead" the fans will be grateful for the power to fire a future GM.

Tonight, Seattle Sounders fans voted to retain general manager Adrian Hanauer with 96.7 percent of over 13,000 people who participated in the decision. Only about 500 people voted no and those that chose the opposite choice were rewarded with promises of an MLS Cup in the near future from the owners.

"We WILL win an MLS Cup in the very near future," Hanauer said during tonight's Business Meeting.